The car has a front end clunk on the driver side (occasionally i'll hear it on the passenger side as well), when turning the wheel while going slow...forward and reverse. Over the last 2 weeks or so, the car has now started to clunk when hitting any bump in the road on the driver side. Driving down the highway is terrible over 60mph as there is an intermittent vibration in the steering wheel and floor. The wheels were balanced a couple weeks ago, so I doubt the vibration is wheel / tire related.

Today I changed the inner and outer tie rods as my mechanic told me they were bad. He did say the rack was fine. The control arm bushings (rear) were replaced about 2 years ago as well, along with the wheel bearings.

The reason I'm asking if it's airlift related is the car (as of the last month) is sitting about a 1/4-1/2" lower at the same psi I've always driven at. Recently when dumped, the fenders are also almost touching the lip of the wheel (18's). It's that noticeable. Prior, the fender was a good 1/2" or so from the lip of the wheel.

What are some ways I can try and diagnose the problem my self? Note: the motor mounts are original minus the dogbone.

had a similar issue with my mkiv.. turned out to be the front strut mounts/bearings. they compress over time. pop the hood and look at the conical metal strut caps. if they stick up significantly above the strut towers and/or are rotatable by hand, that's probably your culprit. replaced mine in less than an hour per side. $60 in parts.

The BF's car is doing a lot of these right now and it's due to a dying CV joint. In his case it's because the boot split and it's very clear that the joint is exposed to dirt and crud and has lost a lot of its grease but it's also possible for the inner joint(s) to wear out while the outside of the driveshaft still looks fine.

It could also be a wheel bearing I suppose? That's easy to check for, get it on jackstands so the wheel's in free air and make sure the wheel spins normally (aka freely and smoothly minus any normal brake drag) and doesn't clunk if you grab it and try to wiggle it. If the wheel bearing checks out I would consider the CV joints to be the prime suspects.

I took it to a local trusted shop and they are saying the lug nuts for the adaptors aren't the right type. I think the current ones are ball seat for the mercedes wheels. Would this cause these symptoms? I'm not sure I buy it.

Probably a bad cv joint mine does the same thing and my cv boot has been ripped for a while so that's my guess

Originally Posted by VR6OOM

I took it to a local trusted shop and they are saying the lug nuts for the adaptors aren't the right type. I think the current ones are ball seat for the mercedes wheels. Would this cause these symptoms? I'm not sure I buy it.